GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Another view of the (■o:n-!:'i)n (actus showin:;- a 

 growth higher than a man's head. See page 556. 



I have found by experience that the foul- 

 brood trouble is not as serious as it appear- 

 ed at first, I look at these things in a very- 

 different light. It is an easy matter for the 

 alert beekeeper to keep the disease under 

 control. In spite of being surrounded by 

 foul brood we can raise as good paying 

 crops of honey as we did before the disease 

 made its appearance; and I go even one 

 step further, and say we can raise better 

 crops than we ever did. 



To keep control of the disease it is nec- 

 essary that the beekeeper know the condi- 

 tion of his bees at all times. This requires 

 constant watchfulness and inspection. Bees 

 must be examined at regular intervals ; and 

 by doing so he may see things that require 

 his attention which otherwise would be 

 passed unnoticed. Although I have great 

 faith in Italian queens as foul-brood resist- 

 ers, they are not positively proof against it. 

 Now and then a slight attack will reappear, 

 and every queen that allows the least indi- 

 cation to take a foothold in her colony 

 should be replaced by another, either home- 

 bred from the best queen in regard to hon- 

 ey-gathering proclivities and immunity from 

 the disease, or else purchased from a re- 

 liable dealer's guaranteed stock. This in 

 turn will have a tendency to improve our 



stock, and consequently increase our crop. 

 Slightly affected colonies of Italian queens 

 can be cured by the caging jjrocess; but the 

 disease is liable to reappear again, and for 

 this reason it is safer to supersede them 

 with more reliable stock. 



To say that foul brood is a blessing in 

 disguise may be a little exaggerated; but 

 there is certainly one good point about it. 

 It has a tendency to clean out some of these 

 one-horse concerns generally termed farmer 

 beekeepers. They are no benefit to the hon- 

 ey industry. In some out-of-the-way place 

 along the backyard fence, hid by gi'ass and 

 weeds, they keep a few colonies of bees, 

 expecting to raise a little honey for their 

 own table. In the spring, or during a hon- 

 ey-flow, they may supply their bees with 

 the surplus appliances they consider ade- 

 quate for the season ; but after that they 

 pay little or no attention to them. They 

 are never examined, and are left to fight 

 their own battles. If they are free from 

 disease, well and good ; if not, just the same. 

 For all the owner knows, his bees may be 

 rotten with the disease, weakened down to 

 a mere handful, or possibly gone entirely, 

 and their hives a prey to the robbers of 

 other apiaries. Thus they become a con- 

 stant menace to neighboring beekeepers who 

 are trying to keep the disease among their 

 own bees under control. This state of affairs 

 may not be entirely the fault of these farm- 

 er beekeepers. They do as well as they 

 know how and as their situation permits. 

 Just at the time bees need the attention of 

 their keeper the most, farmers need every 

 minute of their time to see to their haying 

 and harvesting or other necessary farm- 

 work, and it is only a natural consequence 

 that their bees have to be left to shift for 

 themselves. 



In the fall they gather up whatever their 

 bees have accumulated in the line of surplus 

 honej'. Frequently, in favorable seasons, it 

 is more than they need for their own table, 

 and the surplus is taken to the market, 

 where it again becomes a menace to the 

 professional honey-producer. Not having 

 the time or ambition to prepare their little 

 crop properly it is brought as it is taken 

 from the bees. Unsorted, uncleaned, and 

 unprotected it is placed with a load of 

 garden truck in an open wagon. Dust and 

 dirt have free access to the honey; and by 

 the time it arrives at the market it is any- 

 tliing but an inviting, appetizing morsel. 

 Not knowing anything of the ruling market 

 in'ice, and their fear of not finding ready 

 sale for it, they offer it at two, three, and 

 even five and six cents below the price prop- 

 erly put-up goods would demand. To a 



